


The Twins of Kentisbury Castle

by mandykaysfic



Series: 12 Days of Christmas 2015 [3]
Category: Abbey Girls - Elsie J. Oxenham
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 09:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5621779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandykaysfic/pseuds/mandykaysfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the best Abbey Girls find treasure eventually. Now it's the turn of Rosamund's second twins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Twins of Kentisbury Castle

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me  
Two buried secrets

Rosanna and Rosilda, commonly referred to as 'second twins', hurried down a long corridor on the second floor of Kentisbury Castle. Rosanna cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and seeing the coast was clear, opened the nearest door and dragged her sister into the room. The girls clutched one another at the loud click it made when Rosilda pulled door shut then dissolved into giggles when they realised nobody had heard it.

"Pull back the curtains," directed Rosanna as she headed straight for the four poster bed. She clambered onto the centre of the blue bedspread; the girls had entered the 'Blue Room', one of the little-used guest bedrooms.

"I hope your shoes are clean," remarked Rosilda. She checked hers carefully before joining Rosanna on the bed.

"As clean as yours, I should think. Now, let's have another look at this."

This was an old book they'd found in the library. It had been tucked behind the others on the second bottom shelf, and the girls had found it purely by chance two days ago during a game of 'Hunt the Dolly' instead of going riding.

Riding had been cancelled as the weather had unexpectedly turned nasty. Bel and Lin, the first twins, had been invited to a birthday party, and by chance, none of boys were present either. It was rare for Rosanna and Rosilda to be the only two of the family at home, and as a special treat, they'd been allowed in the big library instead of being confined to the playroom in the children's wing. Strictly speaking, they were supposed to be looking at some of the books that had belonged to their grandmother. The quaint illustrations made them giggle, but they found the small print tiresome and difficult to read after a while. Rosanna had produced Mabel, a tiny celluloid doll, from her pocket, and the game of hiding and finding her had ensued.

On Rosilda's fourth turn to hide Mabel, she scurried over to the corner of the library. She knelt down, and after quickly checking Rosanna's fingers were stuffed in her ears and her eyes squeezed tight shut, she slid the doll along the top pages of one of the shorter books. She pushed her right to the back of the shelf. It was a good hiding place, she thought. When she settled herself on the leather arm chair that matched the one on which her twin was curled, she picked up a cushion and threw it at Rosanna's head. "You'll never find her this time."

"Oh, yes I will. In less than five minutes, too."

"Good luck!"

Rosilda muffled her laughter with her fingers as Rosanna checked the coal scuttle, opened the drawers of the writing desk for the third time and even looked in the vases of flowers.

When the clock chimed four some ten minutes later, reminding the girls they'd need to finish their game as they'd need to go to their room and get changed, not to mention their sisters would be home soon, Rosanna gave in and begged for a clue.

"You're so cold you're almost at the North Pole."

"Come on, Zil."

"All right, Zan. Take ten steps toward the window. Now turn to face the bookshelves. You're looking at her. At least, you're looking in the right direction."

Rosanna ran over to the shelves. Methodically, she ran her fingers along each one, from the lowest to the highest one she could reach above her head. She turned and shook her head. "I know you didn't climb on a chair. I give up. Where's Mabel?"

Rosilda joined her sister and knelt down. She wriggled her fingers along the top of the book, but found she couldn't quite get hold of Mabel to rescue her. Eventually, she pulled a couple of books right off the shelf. "Here!"

"What's this?" Rosanna's eyes shone with excitement and she ignored Mabel being held aloft by her sister.

This was an old book, a diary they guessed, by the handwritten pages coming loose from their binding. Rosanna settled cross-legged, right where she was and opened it on the floor so Rosilda could see too.

"April 11th. I do not vash, no, wish. I do not wish to...to wossy." Rosilda read slowly, stumbling over the words. "Wossy?"

"Worry?" suggested Rosanna. "No, it's marry. I do not wife to marry Mifter Longblossom. I sheep--"

"It's not sheep. That curly 's' is an 'f'." Rosilda traced a gentle finger over the uneven writing. "It's really old. Like the papers in the Abbey. _I do not wish to marry Mister Longbottom. I fear he will take my Mother's jewels for himself. Cannot my brother see he is often in his cups, whilst the servants speak openly of his gambling debts._ " Rosilda caught the knack of reading the old handwriting and continued for a few paragraphs.

The girls' eyes lit up as they learned the writer planned to stow her mother's jewels in her carved chest, the one made by her uncle, and hide it away, where neither Mister Longbottom nor her brother would ever find it.

The clock reminded them of the passage of time and reluctantly, they tore themselves away from the past. It took less than a minute to replace the other books and make sure the library was tidy, and then taking the diary with them, they hurried back to their room.

"Who was she?" wondered Rosilda, as she slipped into a pretty pale blue dress and dainty white slippers. Their parents preferred all the family members change into something suitable for the evening from the time they were old enough to leave the nursery for meals.

"We're silly. We didn't check to see whether she'd written her name in the front. You know, like Mary Smith, her diary and the year." Rosanna's dress was also blue, but where the embroidery on Rosilda's dress was white, hers was green. "Do me up, please, and then I'll do you."

"We'll have to wait until later to check. If we look now, Bel and Lin will be sure to come in and they'll take over, as usual."

"As usual," echoed Rosanna with a sniff. "Just because they're nine months older...."  
She stopped there; if Rosabel and Rosalin joined them right at this time, they'd certainly guess the younger girls were hiding something and demand to be let into the secret.

The diary had been carefully hidden in almost full view. The spine was visible, but only if someone examined the picture books on the lowest bookshelf in their room. Later, the twins settled into bed and went to sleep repeating twelve o'clock, twelve o'clock.

"It worked! It really worked!"

"Ssh!" ordered Rosanna, whose own whisper was almost loud enough to wake the twins in the next room. She reached out to her bedside table and felt for her torch.

"Sorry. I forgot." Rosilda apologised so softly Rosanna barely heard her. She threw back the bedcovers, and by the light of Rosanna's torch, padded over to the book shelf. Carefully, she took the diary from its hiding place and hurried back to Rosanna's bed.

Together they opened the book.

"My book. Rose Anne Kane," read Rosilda. "Zan! She's a Kane!"

"She has my name. Or rather, I have hers. She must be some sort of great-great-great-grandmother. Oh, how exciting!"

"Ssh!" Rosilda shushed her twin, whose voice had risen in her excitement. "Get your dressing gown and slippers. Let's go to the library before we wake someone."

"Good idea, twin."

Once inside the library, the girls made sure the door was shut. They lit a reading lamp and squeezed into one of the leather armchairs. With heads close together, they pored over the pages. They were thrilled to discover they shared their birthday with Rose Anne. April 15th, her sixteenth birthday, was also the day she was supposed to marry Mr Longbottom, and that Rose Anne had hidden her chest of jewels, although she hadn't detailed where.

Several days later, she'd taken to her bed, _feeling as though the weight of Tom the blacksmith's anvil sits upon my chest_.

"But...but what happened next?" cried Rosanna, when they turned a page only to find it, and the remainder of the pages, blank.

"Do you think she might have died?" wondered Rosilda. "That could be why she stopped writing."

"Perhaps she died of a broken heart," suggested Rosanna, charmed with the idea. "That would explain the weight on her chest. Pining away in her room."

"That's not very likely. She didn't want to marry Mr Longbottom."

"Oh dear," groaned Rosanna. "I wasn't thinking." She opened her mouth and yawned.

"Now look what you've done," said Rosilda after she yawned even more widely than her twin. "We should go back to bed. We don't want to get caught." She yawned again.

Rosanna nodded. "I can barely keep my eyes open."

Yawning almost continually, they made plans as they made sure the room was as they found it and headed back to bed.

 

Sadly, a second search of the library failed to yield any other hidden diaries. A carefully planned conversation over lunch on the topic of the family tree saw their mother, who most unusually did not have any other engagement and so joined her children for the midday meal, give them permission to spend a precious half hour with their invalid father in his personal sitting room. The visit was an unexpected treat; he preferred to save his energies in order dine with them in the evening, so the children rarely saw him during the day.

He directed them to get the family bible. Together, they carried it back and placed it on the blanket covering his knees.

"Here are your names and birthdates, and those of your brothers," he pointed out.

"There's you, Father!"

"And Mother!"

Eventually, twins recovered from the excitement of seeing their names and those of their various family members, and began asking about great grandparents, great-great grandparents, and ever-so-many greats as they could, as well as great-aunts, great-uncles and assorted cousins.

Pleasantly surprised at the interest his younger daughters were showing in their family history, the Earl patiently explained the intricacies of third-cousin-twice-removed and similar relationships.

"Look, Father, she almost has my name!" Rosanna's sharp eyes had spotted Rose Anne Kane.

"Ah, Rose Anne Kane. She'd be your seven-times great-aunt."

"Where are the names of her children?"

"Oh, Rosanna, I'm sorry to say she didn't have any. See, she died shortly before her sixteenth birthday. I'd forgotten about her. There's actually a bit of a mystery surrounding her."

"Ooh, can you tell us about it?" begged Rosilda. The twins nudged one another and exchanged grins.

"Let me see, I would have been about your age when my grandfather told me the story of Rose Anne's missing treasure chest. It is said to contain the original Kane jewellery. Rose Anne's mother had quite a collection of rubies, diamonds, pearls and sapphires."

"Just like the Abbey treasure!" squealed Rosanna, forgetting she wasn't supposed to interrupt an adult.

"Rosanna," said her father warningly, and then continued after she apologised. "A little like that. It's said she hid it away from a prospective suitor, someone she had no desire to marry. She then fell ill and succumbed before telling anyone the location of the hiding place and the chest has never been found."

"Never?"

"Never," confirmed the Earl solemnly. "I looked for it myself, many times, when I was around your age. There's a portrait in the gallery of Rose Anne's mother wearing the rubies."

"Is there?"

"Certainly. Her name was Rose Mary Kane." He pointed to her entry in the bible, and then catching sight of his wife standing quietly in the doorway, patted the girls' hands and shooed them away. "Now, run along and play at treasure hunters, and you shall tell me at dinner of your success, should you be so fortunate."

"Hello, Mother! Good-bye, Mother! Thank-you, Father! Good-bye Father! Wish us luck!" The twins clattered past Rosamund and headed for the gallery to examine the painting.

"She looks rather like Geoffrey-Hugh!" giggled Rosanna.

"If you put him in a dress," agreed Rosilda, with an identical laugh.

"Those are the rubies," breathed Rosanna, when they'd calmed down.

"They're beautiful."

"Rather."

"I'd love to wear that necklace."

"And those earrings."

"Look at the rings on her fingers"

"Do you think she has bells on her toes?"

"Ros-il-da!"

"Ro-san-na. Come on, we should make plans."

*

It didn't take long for Rosabel and Rosalin to notice the second twins had a secret. After being found looking up the chimney in the playroom on one day, and being caught tapping the panelling in the Minstrels' gallery on another, Rosanna and Rosilda confessed they were playing at being Abbey twins and hunting for treasure. They had to put up with some mild teasing, but their plan worked when the first twins laughed and left them to their babyish game.

"We haven't searched the Tower," said Rosanna, after they ticked another room off their list.

"We haven't nearly finished here," protested Rosilda.

They'd searched their own wing fairly thoroughly, using a plan of the castle they'd found in one of the books in the library. There were rooms in Kentisbury they were forbidden to enter, such as their parents' suites, the cellars and the servants' quarters, but there were still many rooms to examine.

"Don't you think Father would have looked all over here? And wouldn't Rose Anne's brother have searched the castle too? I think she crept out to the Tower under cover of darkness and hid the treasure chest there."

"No, Zan. We can't go there. What about the Ghost?" Rosilda bit her lip.

"But that's it! Don't you see?"

"I don't want to see, that's the point."

"The point is that's why I think the treasure is there. Nobody wants to go there because of the Ghost."

"Do you think she's the Ghost, then? Guarding her mother's jewels?"

"No. Rose Anne died from sickness, not jumping off the Tower. She's not the Ghost. Anyway, we're not going to search at night. We're going to ask Cook for a picnic lunch and go on Saturday. Everyone else will be busy, except us again, thanks to Jennifer's party being cancelled."

"Do you really think…?"

"I really do."

*

"Our torches, spare batteries, matches, candles, chalk, string, chocolate, an extra bottle of water. It's a good thing everyone is loves to tell the stories about Mother and the aunts getting lost underground. We're going to be prepared for anything," said Rosanna, as she packed her bag.

Rosilda added a bandage, a tape measure, a small notebook and a pencil, along with some spare handkerchieves to Rosanna's bag. She'd be carrying their picnic lunch. She wrinkled her nose, unsure how as to how her twin would react to what she said next.

"Zan, I've written a note, explaining where we are, and placed it on my desk, just in case."

"Oh, Zil, we're not Elizabeth and Margaret. I've written one too."

 

It didn't take the twins long to hike to the Tower. Rosanna produced the key she'd prevailed upon Billy, the gardener's son, to borrow from his father's office. She'd breathed a sigh of relief when her offer to join them was turned down on account of the Ghost.

"Top down or bottom up?"

"Let's start at the top," suggested Rosilda. "We've more energy now. It'll be better not having to climb when we're tired."

"Champion!" agreed Rosanna.

"Round and round and round we go," sang Rosilda as they climbed the stairs.

"Except it's not round. We're going in a triangle."

"Close enough."

"One floor to go," announced Rosanna, when they'd reached the fourth floor.

"Have you been counting the steps?"

"No. Do you think we should have?"

Rosilda stood still and considered the matter. "No," she eventually decided. "Come on."

It had been several years since the twins had been in the tower, and once they reached the top floor, they spent several minutes admiring the view.

"That's enough. Let's get to work. You take that wall, I'll start with this one," said Rosilda.

They'd searched enough rooms to have worked out a routine, starting with bricks and woodwork, and finishing with window seats and fireplaces in the rooms that had those. They looked for worn places, scrape marks and ill-fitting joins.

They'd worked their way down to the first floor, when Rosanna suddenly stopped tapping the fancy paneling on one wall. "Did you hear that? What was it? Was it the Ghost?" she exclaimed.

"I think it was my stomach," said Rosilda. For all their careful planning, neither had worn a watch. They'd eaten apples on the fourth floor, and chocolate on the third, but their lunch was still in her bag, which they'd left on the second floor.

"I'll get it."

Rosanna came back with the bag Cook had packed. "Egg sandwiches, ham sandwiches, two buns, some fruit cake and a bottle of lemonade. Lovely!"

They made themselves comfortable on the bench that ran along one wall and set out the spread between them.

"One more floor to go. Do you really think we'll find the treasure chest?" asked Rosanna.

"It's got to be somewhere," said Rosilda, idly swinging her feet back and forward.

Rosanna drummed her heels against the side of the bench. "Yes, but where?" Frustrated, she smacked her hands down on the bench seat.

"Wait. Stop! Do that again."

Rosanna stared at her twin, and then slapped her hands down.

"No. Kick your feet." Rosilda leaned forward expectantly.

Obediently, Rosanna did as she was told.

"There. Do you hear that? It sounds –"

"Hollow!" they shrieked together.

Rosanna drummed her heels on the bench once more. She did it again to the left and then the right of where she sat, and then carefully along the length of the bench. The pencil came in handy as they marked the place that sounded different. It turned out to be a section consisting of four adjoining pieces of wood, together measuring barely a foot in length.

Buns and cake forgotten, they pushed, tapped and kicked along the bench. Beneath the padded seat were over fifty wooden boards, carved with an intricate pattern of vine leaves.

"We should have brought a magnifying glass," said Rosanna.

"Do you want stop now and to bring one next time?"

"Silly twin! Of course not! Now come and look at this. Do you think this leaf here is different to the others?" Rosanna was lying on her tummy, with her nose practically pressed against the last board on the left hand end of the bench.

"You come here." Rosilda lay in an almost identical fashion at the other end.

"No. Seriously, you should come over to me. I think it moves when I press it really hard."

"I'm doing the same to this leaf, and I think mine's moving."

As the girls pressed the carved leaves at the same time, they heard a grating noise coming from the boards where they'd discovered the hollow sound.

"Don't stop pressing yet!" shrieked Rosilda. "Wait until that noise stops."

It didn't take long, and as one, they leapt up and rushed to the centre of the bench. Together they reached into the cavity that had been revealed by the four boards they'd marked sliding down into the floor.

"I feel something!"

"Rose Anne's treasure chest! Oh please let it be Rose Anne's jewels."

"Look! R.A.K! It is! We found it!"

"Oh, no. Zan, it's locked." Rosilda tried to lift the lid.

"Let me try. You're right. Whatever shall we do?" Rosanna pressed the roses carved into the box, hoping it had a secret spring like the bench seat.

Meanwhile, Rosilda felt around inside the cavity, and a moment later, held aloft a small key. To their great joy, it turned easily in the keyhole, despite not being used for many years.

"The Kane jewels. We found the Kane jewels!"

They immediately recognized the ruby necklace from Rose Mary's portrait. Rosanna held it up to her throat. Rosilda slid half a dozen rings onto her fingers, and then held out her hands for her twin to admire.

"Won't Father and Mother be thrilled when we show them?"

"And won't Bel and Lin be amazed, not to mention the boys."

"We should take everything back."

Regretfully, they took off their adornments and laid them carefully in the carved chest. Rosanna placed it gently into the empty picnic bag, while Rosilda stuffed everything else into her bag. Hiding their excitement, they returned the key to Billy, who thankfully returned it to his father's office.

*

The twins washed and changed as quickly as they could, and then carrying the Rose Anne's jewellery box between them, they entered the dining room only a few minutes late.

"Rosanna, Rosilda, didn't you hear the bell?" Rosamund frowned at the girls. Meals taken without the presence of guests were not an excuse for bad manners.

"We're sorry we're late," they apologised together.

"But we have a good reason."

"Look, Father. Look, Mother."

"We found it."

"Rose Anne's jewellery box."

"It's the ruby necklace."

"In the tower."

"And rings."

Geoffrey held up his hands. "My dear twinnies, whatever do you mean?"

"Here!" And with that, the twins, who'd reached their father's chair, placed the wooden chest on the table in front of him and opened the lid.

"We found the treasure!"

Dinner simply had to be postponed as the twins poured out their tale. Everyone had questions.

Rosamund waived away the maid. "Bring the soup back when I ring for it."

The boys wanted to rush off to the tower and find the hidden cavity for themselves. First twins wanted a closer look at the jewellery. Geoffrey muttered about lawyers and treasure trove, while Rosamund made plans to telephone Joy, Jen and Maidlin at the earliest opportunity.

*

"Now all we need to do is find a secret passage, and we'll be equal with the Abbey folk," said Rosanna as she snuggled into bed.

"And Bel, Lin and the boys can never tease us about being second any more," said Rosilda happily.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiorne Tower is a triangular shaped folly situated in Arundel Park close to Arundel Castle (Kentisbury Castle as EJO Abbey series fans would know). The tower itself is located on a very steep hill overlooking Swanbourne Lake, and it was up this hill one night that a young lovelorn girl climbed to reach the tower. It is believed that the unnamed young lady had been rejected by the man she believed was her true love after revealing that she was pregnant, and was so completely devastated that she thought her life could not go on without him. She climbed the tower and threw herself from the top. Her ghost has been seen on moonlight nights at the top of the tower looking out over the car park, presumably searching for her lost love.
> 
> I used this tower and its ghost as the inspiration for my tower and its ghost.


End file.
